Can a Drone Help You Plan an Irrigation System for Your Farm?
To make your farm a profitable concern, you need to use every inch of land as effectively as possible. Prime land should be put to work; land that needs improvement should be identified and worked on to make it fit for purpose.
In a dry climate, irrigation is often one of the most important factors for farmers. If you're planning to review your current irrigation system and build a new one, then you can make this process easier by using a drone. How can a drone help?
A Drone Gives You a Complete Aerial View
You may know your farm like your back of your hand, but your view is one-dimensional. If you use a drone that can take photos of your farm or that can create digital terrain maps from the air, then you get a different and fuller view.
Drone photographs and maps show your land, its features, possible assets and potential problems from above. You simply get the bigger picture. If you can see all of the parts of your farm in relation to other areas, you'll find it easier to create an effective irrigation plan.
A Drone Identifies Opportunities and Problems
While you understand where you need irrigation at the moment, you may not have the full picture. You may be missing out on opportunities, and there may be problems you aren't aware of yet.
For example, a drone photo or map may show that some of the irrigation you're using is causing a problem somewhere else on your farm. The land you're irrigating is doing well, but water is running off it into another section where it is causing a soil erosion problem.
You assumed that this section wasn't worth planting because its soil quality wasn't good enough. The drone tells you that this is actually down to your irrigation system. If you tweak your system to stop the run-off and deal with the soil erosion, then this section of land may become more viable.
As well as helping you spot these kinds of opportunities and problems, a drone can also help you learn more about your land's drainage and soil types
So, a drone photo array or map gives you all the information you need to build the most effective irrigation system for your land. To get the best results, consider hiring a drone project management company. Their operators understand how to use drones to best effect and can help you choose how to map out your farm for irrigation purposes.
